Forever an Outcast
by dancergirlie13
Summary: Maddie's life was pretty normal. Well, for her. Until she showed up to work one day and everything changed. Who was Kylie? And why did everyone think she was her? Maddie was just trying to lay low, but now she had to deal with the Avengers, Loki, and her uncontrollable powers. Eventually Loki/OC
1. What Started As A Normal Day

I woke up to the sun shining brightly into my room. With a groan, I rolled out of my bed despite of the freezing cold air. I lived in a rundown apartment that has been deserted for years because I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I was always on the move: didn't really have any family or friends, so I was pretty much on my own. I didn't remember much of my past, but it didn't bother me.

I walked over to the small box in the corner that had some clothes in it. I had been working some random small jobs all over New York City, just so I could buy the necessities. I threw on some denim shorts, my rundown yellow converse looking shoes, and a blank, grey V-neck t-shirt. I grabbed my shampoo and conditioner and washed my hair by a nearby hose. Yeah, I almost lived the hobo life, but so far I hadn't had any accidents so I found my resources around town. It didn't bother me; the Earth is my home, and I don't care too much for luxuries.

You're probably wondering what I meant by 'accidents.' I'm not like everyone else. I was told I had some quirky habits, that I didn't think were too weird, and I have these abilities; it's a curse really. I can control fire, water, and earth; and when I say control, I don't mean control. Water is kind of the only one of my powers I can control, but no one is really afraid of water; it can't do that much damage anyway. I'm learning to control my geokinetic powers but they are still a bit iffy. I'm really concerned about my fire abilities, though. I have caused so many fire related disasters in my past.

I find it is too hard to try to control it. I've hurt and killed so many people thanks to my so called powers. Forest fires, earthquakes, landslides, buildings going up in flames: you name it. That's why I am always running, and why I have to keep myself cold all the time, otherwise, I burst out into flames. In the words of Elsa, conceal, don't feel; that is literally what I have to do in order to keep my abilities somewhat in control. I was basically just a robot, hiding my feelings and personality; I don't want to hurt anyone ever again.

After I was done washing my hair, I headed back to my 'house.' I reached for my brush to brush through my long, straight, brown hair, which had now dried thanks to my powers. I looked into my small, cracked mirror. I could see my eyes were still their normal aqua blue color. Good, I thought. I was still under control, for now. I looked at my old fashioned clock in the corner of my room: 8:35. I finished getting ready, grabbed my pathetic skateboard, and skated down to the center of New York City.

-0-

I was sweeping the back hallway by one of the meeting rooms. I came here almost every day for volunteer work, but some of the employees would give me a couple of dollars, knowing about my current living conditions. I looked over at Lindsey, who was mumbling to herself as she was cleaning out the conference room. "Remind me again why we have to do this?" she asked.

"Because I'm volunteering, and your parents made you get a job over the summer." I said back to her with a smile. I enjoyed the company; can't stay completely isolated without going completely insane.

Lindsey was a couple years younger than me and still was in high school. We would have conversations a lot if we were sweeping the same area. "And that's why I don't get. You're really smart. Why are you sweeping up floors just for fun? I know you're like a volunteer junkie, but why?" she said asked.

Her question caught me off guard, but I still answered her. "Because no one would hire a girl who didn't even go to high school." It was true. I always had to leave from place to place, didn't even have any parents to help me with actually going to school. Who has time to go to school if you are constantly running from yourself? Not that I remember much from the past several years, anyway. So many bad things have happened with me losing control; I guess I just forgot a lot of my past. I think it's called PTSD, which I'm a little glad I don't have to remember all of the horrible things I have done.

"But I've seen you." I looked at her with a puzzled look when she said this. "Helping with the other employees I mean. You're smart enough to have, like, a college degree or something. When it comes to math and science, you're a genius!" she said.

I thought about it for a minute and smiled at her for the compliment. You know, she was right. "Yeah I guess, but for now I'm happy with doing what I'm doing. Plus, I don't have the money to go to college." I responded.

She kind of shrugged it off and we continued cleaning a bit for another ten minutes. It was nice talking to Lindsey. Sure we weren't best friends and all, but she was kind of the friend you had as a child that was always there for you with moral support.

After what seemed like forever, Lindsey broke the silence between us. "You know," she started. "It's so boring here doing the same thing over and over. I wish something, like, exciting would happen, you know?"

"Oh don't worry."

Wait, those words didn't come out of my mouth. We turned around to see a tall man with black hair that was sleeked back and he wore black, green, and gold with a scepter in his hand. I looked back at Lindsey, but she was frozen in fear. Why was she so afraid? Sure, people came back here all the time, but we could usually handle them. If they looked dangerous, she would probably run, but we hadn't crossed that bridge yet. So why was she so scared she couldn't move? "Today will be full of excitement." he said smirking.


	2. Meeting Loki

Lindsey and I stood there, just staring at him. Well, I was exchanging glances back and forth while Lindsey just stood frozen. I finally turned back to the man standing there. "Excuse me, but you are not supposed to be back here." I managed to say.

He raised his scepter at me. "Are you sure?" He smirked.

What was wrong with this guy? Was he drunk or something? "Maddie, don't." I heard Lindsey say.

But I ignored her. "I'm positive." I said standing in front of her. Although I only had a broom, I raised it a little in defense to show I was serious.

He chuckled at this. "Oh, please don't tell me you don't recognize me."

"Should I?" I said with more as a scoff than an actual question.

"Maddie," I heard Lindsey whisper. "That's Loki." She said, still frozen in the same position.

At first I was confused, but then it hit me. That was him! That was THE Loki, the one who destroyed New York last year. Loki seemed to notice my sudden realization as his grin continued to grow. I now knew why Lindsey was frozen where she stood; I felt the same way.

"Now," Loki continued. "May I pass?" I didn't say anything, or move for that matter. In fact, I couldn't move at all. This guy was crazy; he could kill us all! "Very well, then." Loki said as a blue light shot out of his scepter and right above where Lindsey and I were standing.

"Lindsey!" I screamed as I pushed her out of the way of the debris from the ceiling. I heard Lindsey scramble a bit and the run as the gravel fell right on top of me. This amount of rock could kill me, and Loki knew that, but luckily I had the advantage. As the pile fell, I used my powers to lift the debris just above me. I heard Loki laugh as he walked past the pile of rock. Once I was sure he was gone, I flicked the gravel off of me and started thinking about my options.

I needed to clear out the building; that much I knew. I thought of the quickest way to evacuate the building. I looked around and found my answer. There was a fire alarm close to the stairs just one floor up. If I could trip that, everyone would have to leave, and no one would get hurt. I heard screams and items breaking in the distance. I needed to do this quick. I grabbed a brick and headed towards the stairs.

I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could. When I reached the door, I tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. I looked at it and saw some damage had been done to it. Great, I thought. Loki has already made it up this far. But that also means he won't be in this area anymore. I tried kicking the door open, but it was barely moving. I finally decided to ram into the door. Sure it was a stupid idea, but it could work. I backed up a bit and ran at the door as fast as I could. Oh I made it through the door, but the impact was so hard I fell down on the ground, clutching my shoulder in pain. Not the smartest idea I had, but it did work.

I looked up and saw the fire alarm about five yards away from me. I picked up the brick and started heading for it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice that sent chills up my spine. I looked down the corridor, and sure enough, there was Loki. Seriously! Can this guy give me a break?!

I looked at the fire alarm and the brick in my hands. Obviously Loki knew what I was thinking because right when I threw the brick at the fire alarm (where I had used my powers to make sure it actually tripped the alarm) another one of the blue rays from his scepter shot out at me, and trust me, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

I would have flown back into the wall, but luckily someone caught me and held me steady. "Now that's not how you treat a lady, Loki." I heard whoever caught me say I looked up and saw the one and only Ironman. He moved towards Loki and started shooting at Loki. Finding this as a good time to run, I took it.

But that didn't get me very far. Right as I turned around I bumped into a figure wearing red, white, and blue. I looked up at him with a surprised look on my face. "Sorry," I managed to say and tried to sneak pass, but he ended up grabbing my arm.

He held on to me and looked at me with a surprised look. "Kylie?" he asked.

"Kylie?" I heard Ironman and Loki both say. Who was Kylie? I thought. I was now more confused than I was before. "Huh?" was the only thing that escaped my lips. I tried to get away from his grasp, but he just held on tighter, and a look of determination replaced his surprised look. What the heck was going on? The man, who I am assuming is Captain America, opened his mouth to say something, but then got blasted by Loki's scepter and was thrown back. This time, I didn't hesitate to run.

I ran towards the stairs a different sets of stairs; ones that led up. Seeing this as my only option, I started running for my life. I ran until I got to the top, which was the roof. If I could find a ladder that led me down the side of the building, I would be able to get out of here.

I got out onto the roof and immediately looked a ladder, but wasn't given much time as I heard the door slam shut behind me. I could feel chills all over me, and I knew exactly who was up here with me. I slowly turned around to see Loki about 20 feet from where I was standing.

"Well isn't this just fascinating." He said taking a step toward me. I responded by taking a step back. My heart beat quickened as I scrambled for ideas on how to get out of this one. He continued to walk closer to me as I continued to back away. "You know, I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't pointed out," Loki continued. What was he talking about? Was he referring to the name Captain America called me? I tried to back away more, but I had reached the end of the roof. One more step and I would fall.

He continued to advance his was towards me. I started to panic, and my body took over, taking one more step away from him. Bad move. I was about to fall off, when Loki grabbed my arm and pulled me up a ways. I stood there as he just stared at me, like he was searching for something. I tried to regain my footing as he gave one last glance. "You're not her." And with that, I started falling.


	3. Mistaken Identity

I had to think fast. If there was a time to use my powers, it was now! I concentrated on the earth below and brought up a gigantic rock under my feet. Since it had been awhile using this much power, I was overwhelmed. I started to lose control, and the rock wobbled underneath me. I tried my best to stay on top, but it was no use. I slipped off the side and hung onto the rock as I started to hover the next building. The rock started to shake and crumbled between my hands, making me fall about 20 feet in the air. Well, I thought, this beats falling 10 stories.

I impacted with the roof of the next building, which was about two or three stories lower than the building I was just on. But because I was still high in the air, I landed straight on my feet, which gave way and I felt a burning sensation in my left ankle.

I looked at the roof to see if Loki was still there. He wasn't. Good. Hopefully no one else saw me using my powers. I tried to stand up, but fell back down again, grabbing my ankle. The pain was still there, but it wasn't completely terrible. I would probably just have to walk it off. I used the heating vent next to me to get up and steady myself when I saw an arrow shoot and stick onto the vent next to me. Curious, I looked to see what it was doing. I saw a light blinking and my eyes widened. Before I could do anything, the arrow exploded and I was knocked unconscious.

-0-

My eyes fluttered open to a dimly lit room. I had to wait a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust to the lighting. My ankle had felt better, and I knew I probably had already healed, which meant I was probably out for a couple of hours. That's another one of my abilities (I guess that's what you could call it) I had. I could heal fast, but not abnormally fast. Just fast enough that it didn't really draw any unwanted attention.

Once my eyes had adjusted, my heart started beating faster and I was frozen in fear. I was in what looked like a glass caged cell. I started to panic, which meant I was thinking of all the possibly worse things that could happen. _Great! The government has me and is probably going to do some weird experiments on me, or someone finally figured out about what I had done, or maybe that Loki guy has me in here. _I kept going on and on, but it led to the same conclusion: not good!

The door slid open and a man with an eye patch walked in and closed the door. "Good to see you're finally awake, Kylie." He said. _Why is everyone freaking calling me Kylie? _"I see Asgardian prison wasn't able to keep you confined." _Asgardian prison? What was he talking about?_ "But don't worry. I've scheduled a ride for you to make sure you stay there." He said glaring at me.

I finally got up the courage to speak. "Who are you and what am I doing here? I did nothing wrong! You have no right to lock me up in a cell! I have rights, you know! And who is this Kylie everyone keeps talking about?" I yelled. I tried to keep my emotions a little on the down low. But that wasn't really working considering I could feel myself start to heat up.

The man was stunned. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by someone else coming in the room. He was very tall, muscular, and had shoulder length blonde hair. He wore some type of armor with a hammer looking thing in his hand. "Director Fury, you demanded my presence?" He asked. He looked at me, then back at who I now assumed was named Fury, then back at me with a puzzled and curious look. He walked up to the cell as Fury began speaking to him.

"You informed us Kylie had escaped. Well, we found her." Fury gestured to me.

I was about to tell him I wasn't Kylie but the man with the blonde hair spoke up first. "This is not Kylie. Yes she looks similar, but she is too tiny to be of the sort." _Was that supposed to be an insult? Well at least he didn't call me fat. _"If Loki is here, as you claim he is, Kylie would be across the nine realms. She is well aware he is searching for her."

Fury was silent as he took in this information. But that just made me angrier than I already was. I tried to keep most of it in, but I was failing. "So you mean to tell me," I began, "That I was knocked unconscious and locked in here because you thought I was some girl named Kylie?!"

Fury ignored me. "Thor, are you absolutely sure."

"Why yes." Thor chuckled. "She is nowhere near as built as an Asgardian." _Great, now I was tiny and weak. Do I look like a freaking stick! I sure hope not! Sticks break easily, and trust me, I am in no position to be fragile._

"Gather the other Avengers together." Fury said and started to walk towards the door.

"What about me?" I asked.

Fury turned and looked at me. "Stay put." _Was he serious?_

"She is innocent. You do not have a right to keep her imprisoned like this." Thor said. _Yeah, you tell him Thor!_ Although I was still angry, I could feel myself starting to cool down.

"I will place her wherever I see fit until I know exactly what is going on." Fury said.

"Hey! I'm not a dog; I'm a human being! You can't keep me here!" I yelled.

This time Fury looked at me. "I can, and I will." And with that, he left, with a very persistent Thor following close behind. Now I was pissed, and literally fuming. It would take quite a while for me to get myself back in control. I went back to where a small bench was laid out and decided to take a nap. I wasn't leaving anytime soon.

**Third Person POV**

Fury scrambled through the halls with Thor following him. "Kylie and I grew up together. That is not her. Why do you not correct the mistake you have made?" Thor asked.

"She tricked all of us into thinking we could trust her. Who's not to say she isn't tricking you right now?" Fury commented. Thor said nothing until they both got into their meeting area. All the rest of the Avengers were sitting down waiting for both of them.

"So, are you sending Elsa home?" Tony commented using Kylie's nickname.

"Thor, here, says she isn't Kylie." Fury responded.

"What? How could you even think that?" Bruce said to Thor.

"She may look like her, but she is not who you think she is." Thor answered.

"She controlled rock, Thor. How else do we prove it is her?" Natasha asked.

"Say what you must, but Kylie was like a sister to me. I would know if it was her." Thor said.

"She didn't seem to recognize me." Steve spoke up.

"She did make Thor and Loki believe almost their whole lives that she didn't have any powers." Clint pointed out.

"I have an idea." Tony said. "Why don't we just let her out and ask her?"

"You can't be serious." Fury said.

"Why not? The worst thing she could do is freeze the place." Tony said.

"That's not even funny, Stark." Steve said.

"And not an option." Fury finished.

"Why is it so hard for you Midgardians to understand? That girl is not the one we are searching for." Thor said.

"THAT girl could be the most dangerous thing on this ship." Fury retorted.

"We know nothing about her." Thor responded.

"And that is what makes her dangerous. If she isn't Kylie, like you claim, then how was she able to move the earth?" Fury asked.

"Arguing is not getting us anywhere." Bruce said.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Fury asked.

"Watch and keep a close eye on her. If Thor says she isn't Kylie, then maybe she isn't. If she isn't, we can't keep her captive like this. We need to make sure." Bruce said.

"And if she is?" Clint asked.

"Then we deal with her just like we've dealt with any other enemy. But right now, Loki should be our main priority." Steve said. And with that, the conversation ended.


	4. The Hellicarrier

I woke up to the sound of my cell opening. I rolled over and saw a woman with short, bright red hair where the control panel was. I slowly stood up, not sure of what to do. "Follow me." She said as she turned and leaved the room. I wasn't sure where she wanted me to go, but it beat this confined cell, so I followed after her.

I followed her down a few corridors. She was walking so fast, I almost had to jog just to keep up with her. As we passed some other people in uniforms, they would stop and stare for a second but then continued on their way. After walking down some more hallways, we finally reached our destination.

"This is your room. It's filled with all the basic necessities. We eat dinner in an hour in the break room. If you don't come, you don't eat." And with that, she left.

She shut the door behind me and I looked around my room. It just had a bed, nightstand, chair, dresser, and a desk. There was a little window pane on the far side of the room. I walked over to look outside and all I saw was clouds. _Where am I? _There was a little panel above the window that blocked off the view. I decided to keep it open just so there could be a little more light in the room. I looked over in the corner and I saw a door that lead into the bathroom. I looked through the dressers but they were empty. _Well, I guess I'm just wearing what I have on._ I took off my clothes and hopped in the shower.

I let the warm water soak my body. It had been a long time since I have actually taken a real shower. I stayed in the shower for 45 minutes until I got out. I dressed back in my same clothes and started brushing through my now dry hair. I looked over at the clock: 1750. _It must be in military time. So does that mean its 5:50? _I remembered the woman telling me about dinner being in an hour, so I must have about 10 minutes. I didn't feel very hungry, but decided to go just in case that Fury guy got angry. I just got out of that cell; I didn't want to go back in.

I started walking down the corridors, obviously lost. _Where the heck am I? _All of the hallways looked exactly the same; how was I supposed to find where the 'break room' was? I turned the corner and accidently bumped into someone. He wasn't tall like Thor, but he had short light brown hair and gave me a dirty look. "Sorry," I muttered.

"You should be," he said as he brushed past me. I just stared at him as he walked down the hall. _What's his problem?! I didn't even do anything! _I kept walking through the hallway for another ten minutes until I found where I was going.

I peeked my head in. It looks like everyone had already eaten. _Oh well, I'm not that hungry anyway. _I thought. I turned to leave. "Come. Sit." I heard Fury said. _Well, there's no getting away now. _I went in and sat down. The whole room was silent. Fury spoke up again. "You're late."

"Sorry," I muttered. "I got confused."

"Confused?" Tony Stark chuckled. "You know this place like the back of your hand! How did you get confused?"

I was puzzled when he said this. "The only thing that I know like the back of my hand, is the back of my hand." I raised my hand to show him, then turned around and looked at it. "Which I don't know really well, either." I paused as what Tony had said finally processed. "What do you mean I know this place like the back of my hand?"

Everyone was silent. It finally dawned on me. "Are you suggesting that I'm…" I looked around as none of them made eye contact with me. Well, except Thor; he was still a little confused at what they were all getting at. I stood up. "I can't believe this! I've told you numerous times that I'm not Kylie, and so has Thor! What other evidence do you need?"

It was silent for a little while longer, then Tony spoke up. "How about parents? Friend?" he asked.

This question caught me off guard. I looked down as tears threatened to expose themselves. "I don't….really…have any." I said.

"What? Parents or friends?" when I didn't answer, I'm guessing he assumed both. "Who doesn't have parents?"

My body started to heat up as my emotions threatened to spill out. "I don't really want to talk about it." I said as my voice cracked. I felt the tension lessen and I ran out before I got any hotter.

"Way to go, Stark." I heard the women say as I ran back to my room.

-0-

I stayed in my room until about 2 in the afternoon the next day. I decided that I should at least walk around the building to get used to my surroundings. I was walking down a couple of hallways when I passed a lab. I looked inside and saw a bunch of equipment around. I know, this might sound nerdy, but it really fascinated me. When you roamed around from place to place like I did, you didn't really get to see all of the new technology.

"Hey, Maddie." I heard someone say. I looked over and saw Tony and some other guy on the machines.

"Hi…um…" I stammered.

"Oh sorry, I guess you really don't know any of us. I'm Bruce Banner. The red headed girl is Natasha Romanoff. I'm guessing you already know who Thor is. Clint Barton is kind of the quiet one; he's mostly just an observer." _So that's they guy I ran into last night. Why did Clint have a problem with me. Or maybe he had a problem with Kylie… _"Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, is the one who always looks a bit…lost." Bruce said.

I chuckled at that last part. "And I'm Tony Stark. Genius, billionare, playboy, philanthropist." Tony said.

I turned to Bruce. "Is he always this cocky?"

Bruce just nodded and I chuckled. "Apple?" Tony asked as he held up and apple.

I had to admit I was a little hungry. "Uh, sure." I said as he tossed it to me and I caught it. I took a bite as I walked over to where they were sitting. "So, whatcha doing?"

"Sciency stuff. A little complex." Tony said trying not to hurt my feelings by basically calling me dumb.

I just walked over and looked at the screen in front of them. "Just looks like a bit of algorithms. I'm guessing your searching for some sort of ways according to this one. Gamma rays, possibly?" I asked as I looked at both Tony and Bruce.

They were shocked and exchanged glances. "Yeah," Bruce said finally speaking up. "How did you know that?"

"I'm kind of a math and science nerd." I said as I shrugged my shoulders and took another bite.

"Yes! Finally! Where have you been these past years?" Tony exclaimed.

I laughed at his comment. "Texas." I said nonchalantly as I continued eating my apple.

"What made you move from Texas all the way to New York?" Bruce asked.

"Just travelling, I guess. I never really stay in one place for too long."

"Then how did you go to school and learn all of this?" He asked.

"I just read up about it whenever I stopped by the library. Like I said, I'm a nerd. And I'm proud." I smiled. They both laughed. "So, if I'm allowed to ask, why are you searching for gamma radiation?"

Tony chuckled. "So you've picked up on the secrecy of Nick Fury." I nodded. "Well…" Tony began but an alarm started blaring through the Hellicarrier. Yeah I finally figured out what I was on, and trust me, I was not happy that I was stuck in a confined area like this.

Tony grabbed my arm and started dragging my out of the lab. I dropped my apple in the process. "My apple!" I exclaimed.

Tony reached in his pocket and tossed me an orange. "Here." He said.

I gave him a look. "Do you always keep food in your pocket."

"Yup." He said. I followed him and Bruce to wherever we were going and judging by the alarm, I don't think it's good.


	5. Plan of Attack

We had all made it to the conference room. Tony, Bruce, and I were the last ones to enter. We sat in the three empty seats at the end.

"So, what's going on?" I asked.

"We spotted Loki in the middle of the city. He's attacking civilians." Fury said.

"Well, sounds like he's not being real sneaky about it." Clint said.

"We don't know what his plan of attack is, but maybe we can still get to him. Stark, Barton, Rogers, Thor, Romanoff, and Maddie, I need you six to try and capture Loki and bring him back here." Fury said.

"Wait, Maddie's coming along?" Steve asked.

"Yes, we need all the help we can get." Fury said.

"But she is only a mortal. Does she possess combat skills needed for battle?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, and about that…Loki kinda threw me off the side of a building, so to make a long story short, he kinda thinks I'm dead." I said.

"Dually noted." Fury said then he turned to Bruce. "Banner, I need you in the lab tracing Loki's scepter, if possible, and navigate his location." Bruce just nodded then turned to me.

"Wait, if he threw you off a building, how did you survive?" Bruce asked.

"Well, I…" I began but I was cut off.

"That information is not important at this time. What matters now is we catch Loki." Fury said.

"Is there another reason why she's here? If there is, I think we ought to know." Tony said.

"Yeah, I would like to know as well." I said folding my arms.

"You said Loki thinks you're dead, right?" Natasha asked me. I nodded. She turned back to Fury. "I say we use that to our advantage if we aren't successful this time around."

"Then what is she going to do now? Just sit in the cockpit and wait?" Fury asked.

"Maybe she could help me out trace the scepter. I mean, Maddie came in earlier and was able to read some of the algorithms." Bruce said.

Fury nodded at Bruce then turned to me. "Can you help Banner with locating the scepter?"

"I bet I could figure it out. Plus Natasha is right, he thinks I'm dead, we can use that later if needed; catch him off guard."

"Sounds good to me. Alright Avengers, you know what to do." And with that, we all scattered.

-0-

I walked into the lab with Bruce and I put on a headset. "Is this thing working?" I said more to Bruce.

"We can hear you loud and clear." Natasha said.

"Awesome." I said.

"Hey Maddie, go to the screen over there. I'm tracing Loki's scepter right now. When I get a hit, it will appear on that screen. I'll scan the other areas."

I nodded and headed over to the other screen.

"Hey, did you find anything yet?" Steve asked through the headset.

I looked over at Bruce and he shook his head. "No, we haven't gotten anything yet. How about you guys?"

"We're still searching. I've got the ground and Barton and Romanoff are still on the jet." Steve said.

"Yeah, and I'm not getting any signals either." Tony said.

I went over to the computer and started typing. "What are you doing?" Bruce asked.

"Widening the search. If he's not on the streets, he could be in the buildings hiding out." After I was done typing, the monitor beeped and Bruce traced the coordinates.

"Good call, Maddie." Bruce said as he was pulling it up.

"Thanks." I said as I looked over his shoulder. We both looked at each other confused.

"So, where is he?" I heard Tony ask.

"He seems to be in the…library?" I said still confused.

"What would Loki be doing in the library?" Natasha asked.

"It's probably on his to do list. You know, terrorize the city, take over the world, return an overdue book." Tony said nonchalantly.

I giggled at that. "Maybe it's a trap." I said.

"Could be, but there's only one way to find out." Steve said.

There was silence over the headset for a little while as they were all scanning the area. "You have got to be kidding me." Tony said.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"He set off a radiation spike to put us off track. Clever." Tony commented.

"So he's not there?" Bruce asked.

"You lost Loki's signal?" Fury asked as he came into the lab.

"He set off a radiation spike from his scepter to throw us off course." I said to Fury.

"Well, I need everyone back her ASAP. We need to come up with a new plan of attack." Fury said and walked out. Bruce and I nodded as we set up another signal to trace the gamma radiation in Loki's scepter. Once we were done, we headed out.

Bruce and I headed over to the conference room. He didn't talk much on the way there. I think he was feeling uneasy about the fact that Loki played us all.

We reached the conference room and all the Avengers were already there. "Well, that was quick." I said to them.

"No, you guys were just taking forever. It's interesting stuff, isn't it?" Tony asked me.

"Yeah it's really fascinating." I said.

"Sound like we have another nerd on board." Clint said and I just flashed him a smile as I sat down.

Fury looked at Bruce and me. "Any news on Loki's possible whereabouts?" He asked us.

"We haven't gotten a signal yet, but we have set some scanners up to trace it." Bruce said.

"We need to find Loki quick before he tries to attack the city again." Natasha said.

"So the question is, how?" Steve asked.

"We need to bring Loki out from hiding. We need to capture him in the environment that bests suits him. He wants an audience, so everyone will see his rule. Ideas?" Fury asked.

"There is a celebration in Central Park that they hold annually. Maybe he will come out then." Tony said.

"He will not attack if he knows we are near." Thor said.

"We could make him believe we have spread globally to search for him." I suggested.

"Or maybe we should do exactly that." Fury said. "I'm assigning you to different locations where it is possible Loki could attack." He started assigning us our locations. "Maddie, I would like you to go to the celebration in Central Park. If Loki believes the Avengers are elsewhere, that could be one of his possible locations. Having you there could through him off guard."

"Are you sure, Fury?" Steve asked. "Not meaning to interject, but will Maddie be able to fight him off on her own if he does decide to show up there?"

"I've seen what she can do, but you're right. I don't know the full extent of what she can do." He turned to face me. "That is why I would like you and Stark to both be assigned to this mission."

"I thought you wanted me to stay in D.C." Tony said.

"How fast can you fly from D.C. to here?" Fury asked.

"Ten minutes if I book it."

"Alright, you two stay in close contact with each other. If Maddie encounters Loki, I need you to get to New York as fast as you can." Fury responded. Tony nodded.

"But what if he doesn't come out?" Natasha asked.

"I'm still locating his signal in my lab. If we don't see him, hopefully we'll find his location soon." Bruce responded.

"Alright, does everyone understand their missions?" Fury asked.

"Just curious about one thing." Tony said and he turned to me. "What exactly can you do?"

I froze. I didn't really want to tell them my powers, I barely even liked using them. I looked around the room and all eyes were on me. Except for Fury who was staring directly at Tony.

"That isn't important right now, Stark." Fury said.

"I think it is. See if we are to communicate with each other during our mission, I think I should know what she can do." Tony said.

"I actually agree with Stark on this." Steve said. "Why are we not allowed to know?"

"I thought it would be better for everyone if that was kept secret. I don't want to hear any more on the subject." Fury said.

Tony ignored Fury. "Come on, Maddie. Just tell us."

"Alright, um, so I have geokinetic powers, meaning I can move rocks and gravel with my mind. I don't like to do, though. I have a hard time controlling it." I said.

Everyone tensed up. "Wait what?" Steve asked confused.

"I can move…" I began.

"No I think Spangles gets that part." Tony turned his attention toward Fury. Well, everyone did for that matter, except for Natasha and Clint. I'm guessing they already knew.

"Now you see why I didn't want the subject being brought up?" Fury questioned.

"Are you sure we should be trusting her? How can we be sure she isn't Kylie?" Steve asked.

"Hello? I'm right here. What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"She can't be Kylie. She knew how to read the algorithms and trace for gamma radiation. Kylie barely even knew how to use a toaster." Bruce said.

"But Kylie is smart. Maybe she wanted us to believe that she didn't know how to use technology so she could trick us later." Tony said.

"Hello?" I tried again this time standing up, but they were still going off.

"Are we going to discuss this again? That is not Kylie. I knew Kylie, and though this mortal may be similar in some aspects, she is not the girl I grew up with." Thor said.

"Hey!" I said louder and everyone turned to look at me. "I'm right here." I said as though it wasn't obvious.

Tony got up and walked over to me. "What are you doing here?"

I looked at him confused but answered his question. "Helping all of you find Loki."

"Why are you here?"

"You'd have to ask Fury on that one."

"How did you escape from Asgard?"

"What's an Asgard?" I asked confused.

Tony turned to look at Natasha. "Could you take over? You do a better job than me."

"Is this an interrogation?" I asked.

"Looks that way." Clint said.

I looked over at Tony, and then at everyone else. "I don't know how to say this more clearly than I already have. I. Am. Not. Kylie. Got it? Maybe if you all got to know me first, instead of shooting out accusations, then you could make a better decision." I said angrily. I felt myself start to heat up again. _Great, Maddie, just great. What happened to concealing your emotions? _I obviously wasn't good at keeping myself in check.

No one said anything, not even Tony. I gave everyone one last glance then stormed toward my room. I could hear Natasha say, "Way to go Stark." I ran into my room, shut the door, and tried to calm down.


	6. The Mission

About an hour had passed and I heard a knocking at my door. "It's unlocked," I shouted and saw Steve walk in.

"Um...I'm sorry for what Stark said earlier. You're right. We all have no right to judge you." he said.

"You don't have to apologize for him. He can do it himself. But thank you." I said and Steve smiled. "Look, I'm a little tired and I would just like a little time to myself before we all scatter." I said.

"Alright," Steve said, and closed the door.

_After he left, I mentally slapped myself in the face. __I'm such and idiot. _I thought. _He was trying to help me feel better and I pushed him away. Why do I do that?_

_-0-_

I was sitting on the jet with Tony. We had just dropped Natasha off and were heading to New York to drop me off at the celebration. I was quiet for most of the ride. I looked up to see what Tony was doing; he was talking to one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents driving the jet. After a few minutes, Tony came and sat next to me.

"Hey," Tony said.

"Hi," I said and turned away, trying to ignore him.

"So, you're ignoring me now?"

"Trying," I responded.

"Look, I'm sorry. You're right, I should get to know you first." Tony said. I thought about what he had said, it sounded just like what Steve said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Did Steve tell you to say that?"

Tony looked away. "…maybe…"

I laughed. "You are so childish sometimes." I said more in a playful voice than an actual insult.

"You find me childish?" He asked in the same tone.

"Only some of the time...most of the time. Well actually, almost always." I said back to him.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first. Rogers and Fury seem to think the same." he said.

"You almost sound proud of it." I said giggling a little.

"Oh, I am." He flashed me a big smile. "But I still mean it. I really am sorry."

I just smiled at him in response. A light flashed on. "Well," I said standing up. "That's my cue."

"Oh I almost forgot." Tony reached in his pocket and handed me a tiny device. "It is almost the same as your ear piece, you know, in case something happens to your headset. Just press the button and it will send a signal to my suit. I will try to get there as fast as I can." Tony said. I nodded and put it in my pocket and stepped out of the jet, watching it quietly fly away.

-0-

It had been at least two hours into the celebration. There were some bands on the stage that were playing popular songs. "See anything, Rocky?" Tony asked.

I smiled a little at Tony's nickname for me. _Yeah, real unique, Tony. _I thought to myself. "Nope. Nothing. Just people making out, getting drunk, and partying it up. Why weren't you assigned this mission? It is your dream come true."

"Yeah it's too quite here. Wanna switch?" Tony asked.

"Nah, you need a little boring." I said with a smile.

"I have to listen to Rogers almost all day long, complaining about how everything is too advanced. I think I have plenty of boring."

I laughed. "Is he that bad?"

"Oh, you should watch him trying to figure out the internet." Tony said with a laugh.

"I can only imagine." I giggled.

I continued to enjoy the celebration. It was actually really fun. I got some cotton candy and walked around for a bit. For a while, I had completely forgotten everything that was happening and I enjoyed the festival.

-0-

I started walking down the street, looking for the familiar buildings that I knew. The celebration had died down a bit, but I was stationed here for another hour, so might as well explore the side of New York City that I wasn't used to.

I walked toward a cute little boutique that was closed when my earpiece started to act weird. It was making loud buzzing sounds and started to short out. I grabbed it and threw it off my ear. _Great, now I'm going to have a killer migraine._

I walked back toward the park, and passed an alleyway. I heard someone crying at the end and was leaning against the wall on the ground. I ran towards them. "Are you ok? What happened?" I reached to help them up and they disappeared. "Huh?" I saw a faint blue glow behind me. I turned around to see the light coming towards me really fast and hit me, throwing me to the back of the alley. _Loki. _I thought. I quickly got up and saw him walking towards me. I turned around and tried to climb the chain-link fence behind me, but he was quicker than I was. I felt him grab my throat and he threw me to the ground. He hovered over me and stared at me.

"Well isn't this interesting." He said. "And here, I thought I let you fall die, but you did, however, survive." He moved away so he wasn't facing me.

_What am I going to do? I don't want to risk letting myself lose control of my powers. I don't even have my earpiece anymore. _Then I remembered my conversation with Tony before I got off the jet. _That's it! _Quickly, I pushed the button on the device that was in my pocket.

"Oh, I wish you hadn't done that." Loki said.

I froze. _Crap! _But I tried to hide it. "What are you talking about?" I said, standing myself up.

"The question still remains, how did you manage to stay alive?" His back was still facing me. Now was my chance if I wanted to escape. I ran around him, but he was too fast. The next thing I knew, his arms were wrapped around my throat and I was shoved against the brick wall. "Now I guess it wouldn't matter now, would it? Too bad your tin man friend won't be here quick enough to save your pathetic life." He snarled in my ear.

"Oh really?" I heard a familiar voice say and Loki was shot back with one of Tony's blasts. I got up and stood by Tony, who was now Ironman, and stared at Loki.

"You think you can defeat me that easily?" Loki said as he raised his scepter and shot at us. Without thinking, I moved a larger rock in front of me and Tony. The energy from Loki's scepter hit it and the rock shattered into tiny pieces, which I shot back at Loki.

Loki stumbled back and stared back at us in shock. "Didn't expect this pathetic little human to be able to do that, huh?" Tony said as he picked Loki up and putting him in handcuffs.

As if right on time, the jet appeared. Tony led Loki on the jet and we headed back to the Hellicarrier. _Everything was great when I got on the jet. People were congratulating me for doing such a good job. It felt nice to be appreciated. I looked over and saw Loki being strapped in by Tony and Thor. Loki turned and looked at me. There was a look on his face. Not a look of defeat, but of something else. I had to turn away. I couldn't shake that look he gave; it scared me. _


	7. Losing Control

It had been a couple days since Tony and I captured Loki. I still couldn't shake that look on Loki's face. I was starting to get tense and hot and I had the urge to go outside to calm down my nerves, but being on the Hellicarrier...let's just say that wasn't the best option. Anyway, so I ended up walking through the halls instead.

"Rocky!" I heard Tony yell as he ran down the hall to catch up with me.

I sighed. "Could you please stop calling me that?"

He beamed. "Of course not! It's tradition! Take it or leave it."

I just rolled my eyes and kept walking, but he kept following me.

"What's wrong? You look troubled." He asked.

"It's just...well..." I couldn't finish what I wanted to say. Fury had announced over the intercom for all of us to meet in the conference room.

I sighed. "Ugh. Do we have to go?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Sounds kinda urgent but when is it not with Fury? We better hurry up." Tony said. And he bolted down the corridor.

-0-

When I had finally found my way to the conference room, everyone was gathered around: probably waiting for me. I sat down at the end next to Bruce.

"I have been thinking that maybe it's best if we relocate Loki elsewhere sometime soon." Fury said as he was pacing back and forth.

"Why? Can't we just keep him here? It's not like he can get out or anything, right?" I asked.

"We don't need a repeat of what happened last time." Fury said as he glared at Clint.

"You can't look at me like that! I didn't even know what I was doing." Clint argued.

"Nonetheless, we don't want it happening again. We don't know what scheme Loki is going to pull this time." Fury answered, ignoring Clint.

_What is going on? _"What do you mean 'repeat of what happened last time?'" I asked.

"Last time we had Loki in our custody, he escaped and started an alien invasion. Remember that?" Natasha asked.

"I heard about it, but I was on the other side of the country." I said thinking back, a little unsure of myself.

"But it won't happen this time because he doesn't have any one of our team under his control." Steve said.

"This is true, but do not underestimate my brother. He is a very powerful sorcerer and quite clever. We need to be cautious with him." Thor said.

"Right now we are building a secure location for Loki. Just be wary. Like Thor said, he could pull something at any moment." and with that, Fury left.

"I just don't understand why they won't let me help improve their security on Loki's cell." Tony said.

"Because they don't trust you, Stark." Steve responded.

"We all goofed last time. Does everyone get a fresh start except me? You all know that I could be helpful." Tony said.

"You all have to look at the big picture. Yes Loki is a threat, but he isn't the only one who could be a possible threat on board." Natasha said.

"Who else is the possible threat?" I asked.

Natasha continued, ignoring me, "We just need to be cautious of everything."

"Natasha, I have everything under control. You don't have to worry." Bruce said, referring to the Hulk.

"It's not you that I don't trust." Natasha said.

Now I understood. She was talking about me. But how was I a threat? Did she still believe I was Kylie? _Seriously?! How many times to I have to say it? It's like one thing goes in one ear and out the other. _I could feel the heat building up inside of me and closed my eyes. I didn't want them seeing my eyes turning into deep blue almost purple color; that could set something off. I breathed in and out, trying to fight back the urge of losing control. I couldn't hear what they were talking about anymore; I kept concentrating. I felt myself starting to cool down and I felt my eyes shaded into a pale blue, which was strange considering they only turned that color when I would control water. _I've been careless lately. My body is just trying to adjust. _I thought to myself, thinking of the best excuse on why my eyes were doing what they were doing. I opened my eyes. I knew they would slowly return to their natural aqua color.

"He could have anyone on this ship, or not. We don't know." Bruce said.

"But Loki is no fool. He plans every move at least two steps ahead of us." Thor inquired.

"But if Loki had someone under his control, we would be able to tell, wouldn't we?" Steve said.

"The only way to tell if someone was under his control would be if their eyes were kind of a pale blue color. Like Maddie's." Tony said. Everyone froze and looked at me.

_What did he mean by that? __I thought, and then I realized what he was referring to. __Oh well this is just perfect. Couldn't have picked a better time, could you Maddie? _I thought mentally scolding myself.

"We should get Fury." Clint said.

"No time. Grab her!" Steve said and they all started to lunge towards me.

I had to think fast as I felt water moving through some of the pipes up above. I focused on holding the water in one spot, and then…BAM! The water shot out from the pipe and I aimed it at them, startling them all. I made a run for it while they were trying to process what had happened to them.

I ran from door to door to door, but they were all locked, and I couldn't pry them open. _Seriously?! The only time I need to hide, every single door is locked! _I could hear them calling after me but they were still around the corner, searching. I reached for a door that looked like it had a series of locks on it. I can't get through that...I heard a thought go through my mind: _Just try it. _So I did. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't locked on the inside. I opened it up using all my strength and was able to squeeze through, shut it, and lock it up before the others ran down the corridor.

I closed my eyes and sat down, trying to calm my nerves. I knew I couldn't hide here forever; they would eventually find me. But at least I was safe for now, or so I thought.

"Well isn't this a surprise." A voice said.

My eyes shot open. I knew that voice! I looked up and saw Loki in his glass prison with a smirk plastered on his face. I shot up and looked at the door...then back at him. If I left, Tony, Bruce, Steve, and everyone else would lock me up or worse; they thought I was under Loki's spell. But if I stayed...what would happen? I didn't know what to do, but I could feel a very faint feeling telling me to stay. That made sense; he couldn't really do anything behind that prison cell. Isn't that what one of the Avengers said? I leaned against the door and turned to face Loki.

"I didn't expect a visit from you this soon." Loki said.

"It probably would have been sooner, you know, if you didn't try to kill me twice." I said sarcastically. Out of all the rooms to hide in, I had to pick Loki's cell. _Well, it could have been worse. _

He laughed. "Oh I wasn't trying to kill you. I was just...helping." He sat down on his bench looking thing.

I walked up a little closer to his cell, puzzled, and agitated. "Trying to help? You think throwing me off a building and trying to choke me is 'helping?'" I tried to refrain myself from yelling; I didn't want the others to hear and I most certainly didn't want to lose control.

He scoffed. "Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you would be."

"Then why aren't I?"

"Now, I can't tell all my secrets. That would be foolish."

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you so interested?"

"Don't you want to gain control?" He asked dodging my question.

_How did he know I couldn't control my power? _Well to him it would be my geokintetic powers. I hid my look of surprise and said, "I have it perfectly under control."

"Do you really? Avalanches, rock slides, earthquakes." He smirked and I froze in my place as he continued to talk. "Oh, and don't forget those 'forest fires.'" My eyes widened. _How did he know? No one knew! _He got up and started to walk towards me. "Everywhere you go, you try to do good; you try to help. But everywhere you go, disaster follows you." He was as close to me as he could get from his prison. He hit the glass and I took a step back, still frozen in fear. "All those innocent people you killed in those 'accidents' and you think I'm the monster?"

"Leave me alone!" I yelled as I managed to find my voice.

He laughed and stepped back. "A girl like you, with powerful abilities that she can't even control?" I felt someone grab my wrist and turn me around. I came face to face with...Loki? "How could I resist?"

I stared up at Loki in confusion which he only replied with a smirk. "I see it is now your turn to be surprised." Loki said as he threw me back into the cage. I stumbled to my feet, feeling myself start to heat up. I looked over and Loki was gone, but his voice was everywhere. "Do you really think you have a chance against me?"

I could hear him from all angles but I couldn't pinpoint where he was. _I don't care about the Avengers! I need to get out of here! _I ran out of the cell and started darting towards the exit when I felt his hands grasp my shoulders and pin me up against the wall. He looked at me and said, "What will you do now that your 'friends' aren't here to help you?"

"Fight!" I reached up, placed my hands on his arms and burned them, making him let go. I made a ball of fire in between my hands and shot it towards him, knocking him against the wall of the cage as it closed. He looked up at whoever had closed the door to the cell and then at me with his usual smirk. I turned to see Steve and Tony standing by the controls. _Crap! What all had they seen? _From the looks on their faces, probably enough. I turned back to Loki. My now light purple eyes burned into his. Too much was happening as I felt all the emotions I had pouring in.

"Sorry to interrupt your little chat." Tony said.

"Maddie are you okay?" Steve asked. He reached to hold my arm, only to quickly let go. "Ow!" He cried shaking his hand.

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"She burned me." Steve said surprised.

I didn't care at the moment. What was important was the I needed to calm down, but it had been a while since I let loose, so it wasn't going to be easy to bottle everything up again. My eyes were still piercing at Loki.

"What the hell is going on here?" Fury yelled as he walked in.

"Looks like Rocky hasn't told us everything." Tony said.

I could feel Fury glaring at me. "You happy?" I asked Loki.

"Ecstatic." He said smiling.

"Conference room, now!" Fury yelled. Everyone followed him out. I glared at Loki one last time before leaving. He was still smirking.

-0-

"What was that?!" Fury screamed at me once I walked in.

"What was what?" I said folding my arms. My body was still heated and my eyes were still light purple.

"Don't' play games with me, Maddie!" He yelled. I just rolled my eyes. "Do you not realize how dangerous this could be for everyone?" Now Fury sounded annoyed.

"Obviously not. Why don't you tell me." I said annoyed. All of my emotions were pouring in, and yeah, of course it felt great to be myself again, but I knew it would only danger everyone around me. I tried calming down again, but that wasn't working considering I was pissed about the whole Kylie thing and my encounter with Loki.

"What's gotten into you?" Clint asked.

"More like what didn't I hold in?" I corrected him.

"What's with the attitude change?" Natasha said as she glared at me.

"Not like you care. You still believe I'm Kylie. Did I finally convince you now?" I asked seating farther back in my chair. _Stop being a jerk! I now you're pissed, but you know there's a better way at handling it. _I told myself/

Natasha gave me a disgusted look as she opened her mouth to say something but Bruce spoke before she did. "Why do your eyes change color?"

"Depends on what I'm doing. For example, heat = purple, earth = a sort of greenish color, but it's not too far from my actual eye color, and water = pale blue." I explained. "Does anyone have any ice I can munch on?" Clint got a cup full of ice and brought it to me. "Thanks." I said as he handed it to me.

He just nodded before continuing. "So you said your eyes turn a pale blue when you use water, well why were they that color before you sprayed us with the water pipes?" Clint asked.

"I don't know. They have never done that before." I said as I was munching on the ice. It didn't completely cool me down, but it was helping.

"What I want to know is how you managed to get into Loki's cell." Fury said in a louder tone.

"Only door that was unlocked." I responded.

"It was my brother, I'm sure of it. He is a magnificent deceiver. He probably created the illusion that your eyes had changed color moments before you were supposed to. I'm guessing he also made sure all of the doors but his were locked." Thor said.

"Leading her into a trap." Bruce said.

"The perfect trap." Steves added.

"And we all fell for it." Tony responded.

"That's it! We are relocating you. All of you, to Stark Tower." Fury said.

"Including Loki?" I asked.

"Yes." Fury said.

"Why there?" Steve asked.

"Bruce and I have created a full proof prison for Loki. He won't be able to get out." Tony said.

"And I want everyone there to guard him." Fury said and turned to me. "Everyone." He emphazied.

I sighed. _Well this is just perfect._


	8. I AM NOT KYLIE!

It was hard. It IS hard. Once I lose control I don't know how to regain it. But being several thousand feet in the air, there was no way I was going to gain control anytime soon.

-0-

We all loaded on the jet. And by all I mean the Avengers, Loki, and me. Fury was talking to Natasha as Tony and Thor brought Loki on board. I had to sit farthest away from everyone so I wouldn't accidentally burn them during our flight. And to top it all off, Loki sat right across from me, smirking. I just rolled me eyes and tried to enjoy the ride. Tony and Thor tried to talk to me, but they had to keep their distance. Let's just say it felt like a sauna on board.

We got to Stark Tower and Thor lead Loki into his new cell as Tony took everyone to their room. I was waiting in the foyer for him to come back from taking Natasha.

"Well, Rocky, let's go." He said. We walked down the hall in silence for a while. He created a little more space between us. "Geez Rocky, when are you gonna cool down." he asked.

"Beats me." I responded with a shoulder shrug.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

_You just had to say something, didn't you? _"Nevermind." I said. The last thing I needed was Fury putting me back in a cell because I couldn't control my powers. He was already watching me during the whole flight.

We stopped in front of one of the rooms, which I assumed it was mine. "Don't throw the 'nevermind' card. Why won't you tell us what's going on?" He asked concerned.

"Because." I said hiding a smile, knowing it would annoy him. I hurry and walked into my room and quickly closed the door behind me. I could tell Tony had tried to come in because he was yelling some curse words about his hand. I couldn't help but smile.

After a couple of hours, I snuck out of my room and found my way up to the roof. The cool air I was greeted with calmed my nerves. I leaned along the edge and started thinking; processing everything that had happened.

_This whole idea of 'relocation' is stupid. I mean, why do I even have to be here? I'm just putting everyone in danger. I should just leave right now...if I could. Loki. This was his entire fault! What does he want with me anyway? Destruction. He wants to rule the Earth, and with my uncontrollable power, he could cause a lot of damage. I better stay away from him as much as possible. But what about the others? The only ones who can really tolerate me were Tony, Bruce, and Thor. Natasha and Clint are always glaring at me. Steve, well, Steve isn't too bad. He is wary around me but he just doesn't seem to trust me. At the beginning, they didn't even know me and they hated me. Kylie. They don't like Kylie, and I guess I look like her. Stupid Kylie. Stupid Loki. Stupid, well, everything!_

After some time of thinking, I managed to calm down. The air was cool enough to bring my body temperature back to normal, but now it was freezing! I looked around and couldn't see much. It was night time now. I went back downstairs and found my room. I locked the door and flopped onto my bed.

-0-

I woke to JARVIS announcing that breakfast was ready. I debated whether I should go down there or not. My stomach grumbled a bit. _Well, that settles that._

I walked downstairs to the foyer and heard everyone just chatting away. I walked into the room and grabbed some toast and the whole room went silent. _Good job, Maddie. You lose control once in front of everyone, and now they won't even talk to you. _I wanted to say something really bad but thought it would be better to just keep my mouth shut. _The more I engage and act like myself, the less control I will have. Just don't even think about it. They'll go back to talking with each other. _I just sat there and buttered my toast while everyone was staring at me.

It probably had been a good five minutes of silence. _Well it was worth a shot. _I got up to leave.

"Maddie, wait." Steve said.

I took a deep breath and turned to face everyone. "Yeah?" I asked trying to avoid what was coming next.

"What happened to you yesterday?" Steve asked.

I knew that question was coming. I looked down at my uneaten toast. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it." I said.

"No!" Clint yelled and headed towards me. "No more secrets. No more 'it's nothing.' Tell us what is going on!" He was now standing about three feet away from me.

Everyone was surprised by this. And I'll admit so was I. I set my toast on the table. "Then what? No matter what I tell you, you will all still believe I'm Kylie so what's the point?" I argued and started to walk towards my room.

I felt someone lightly grab my arm. "Maddie," It was Bruce. "We are just concerned." He said in a soft tone.

"I can't tell you. And I can't tell you why I can't tell you. Yes, I have secrets, but secrets keep people safe." I said.

"And yet, you expect us to trust you?" I heard Natasha growl.

That did it! My body flared and Bruce pulled back his hand. I turned and looked at Natasha. "You know what, Natasha? You need to back off! Do you know how hard it is, knowing that if you tell someone about your situation that you could end up in a cell next to Loki? You look at me the same as you look at Loki. Like a monster. And if you are so convinced that I'm Kylie, maybe you should do exactly that: throw me in a cell. That's all you ever do anyways, right?" And with that I turned and marched to my room, but soon realized what I had just done. _Seriously! How hard is it to keep your mouth shut! That was really mean what you said to Natasha. Yeah she pissed you off, but that's not how you would normally act. _I thought as I scolded myself. It's true, I could have handled that better. So with that, I turned around and walked straight for the stairs, and headed up to the roof.

**Third Person POV**

Everyone was silent until they were sure Maddie was out of earshot. Tony put his hands up in surrender. "I didn't even say anything this time, so don't go around blaming me. What was that about?" Tony asked Natasha.

"I don't trust her, is all." Natasha said.

"Yeah, we can see that. She's never going to trust us, you know." Tony said.

"She wasn't ever going to in the first place. She obviously believes we all think she's Kylie." Steve retorted.

"But we all think she's Kylie, don't we?" Natasha asked.

"I don't think she is." Tony said.

"Neither do I." Bruce commented and everyone looked at him. "Sure there are similarities but there are also many differences. Extreme ones."

"Like what?" Clint asked, annoyed.

"Kylie was ice; Maddie is fire." Bruce explained. "Kylie didn't talk much; Maddie's very talkative."

"And can I at least mention the fact that Kylie didn't know how to use a toaster? Maddie could read algorithms like they were from a children's book." Tony added.

"But we didn't know that much about Kylie." Natasha said.

"Thor, you knew Kylie the best. What was she usually like?" Steve asked.

"My brother and I thought we knew Kylie very well, but she had proven us wrong. She had us to believe that she did not have any power. She always kept it hidden from us. But I know for a fact she is not Kylie." Thor said.

"So who is to say this isn't Kylie deceiving us?" Natasha asked. "Like Thor said, she was able to deceive Loki. Who's to say she isn't doing that now?"

"Kylie used her powers when she absolutely had to; when she was in danger." Steve said.

"So what? We let Loki have another rampage in order to expose her?" Clint said sarcastically.

"Let me finish. Maddie uses her earth and water abilities when she is in danger as well, but she uses her fire when she is angry." Bruce explained.

"So what do we do? Make her angry?" Steve asked.

"We need to gain her trust. We need to do the opposite." Bruce said.

"Do you realize what you're asking? I can't trust her!" Natasha exclaimed and Clint nodded in agreement.

"Trust try. How hard can it be?" Tony asked and everyone else nodded.

From his cell, Loki had heard everything from Maddie entering the foyer until now. He knew what to do. All he had to do now was be patient.

-0-

**Maddie's POV**

I had sat up here for a good couple of hours. Thinking, and cooling off. I could leave, right then and there. But I couldn't. I had to stop running and face my problems.

I walked back downstairs and looked at the clock in the hallway. 1:42 p.m. _Wow. It must have been more than a couple of hours. _I heard my stomach rumble and decided that I better grab something to eat, considering I didn't even eat my breakfast.

I walked into the foyer to find no one there. _Good. I better grab something quick. _I opened the fridge and rummaged through some of the stuff and found some salads pre made in the back. I took one and sat and started searching for the silverware. "Looking for this, Rocky?"

I tensed for a half a second and turned around to see Tony holding out a fork for me. I took it and told him 'thanks' as I sat down. He grabbed something out of the fridge and sat down next to me.

"Everyone is training downstairs. You should come join us. It could really come in handy sometime." Tony said.

I thought about earlier when I yelled at Natasha. "Are you sure? Some of your friends don't really seem to like me."

"Trust me Rocky, they'll get over it." Tony said. I just sat there in silence and ate my salad. "Look, I know you don't want to talk about...things but it wouldn't hurt to know some hand-to-hand combat." Tony said.

I opened my mouth to say something but Tony had already grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the training arena. "Tony, I don't think this is a good idea." I said.

"Trust me. You'll do fine." He said.

Tony and I entered and I saw everyone, with the exception of Bruce, training. Natasha and Thor were sparring with each other (Thor didn't have has hammer with him which was a little odd), Clint was shooting at targets from far off distances, and Steve was hitting punching bags. The door closed and a loud noise echoed throughout the room. Everyone stopped and looked at Tony and me.

"Hey everyone! Look who decided to join us for the party." Tony said.

"That's perfect." I heard Bruce over the intercom. He was probably watching us. I could guess why... "We were just about to start our one-on-one training. Maddie, how about you and Natasha have a go?" Bruce asked.

My eyes widened. "Me? Sparring with Natasha? I don't even know how to fight! And I'm pretty sure that's not a good idea." _Natasha is going to freaking kill me!_

"Don't worry," Natasha spoke. "I'll go easy on you."

"Good luck, Rocky." Tony winked.

"Wait! But...but..." I couldn't finish. Everyone had already left and it was just Natasha and I left in the room. "Um…uh…don't, like, kill me….ok?" I said really worried.

Natasha laughed and gave me a warm smile. "Don't worry, I won't. It'll be fun." _Yeah, for you!_

"Okay, you two," Bruce said. "Get ready. And…fight." He yelled.

I looked around confused. Natasha took the opportunity to charge towards me. I flipped out of the way. _Good thing I took gymnastics as a kid. _We continued to fight, well she would come at me and I would just jump or flip outta the way.

She picked up on my tactic within a few throws and grabbed me by the arm when I tried to dodge. "I gotta say, you're really good at dodging. But dodging isn't everything." She said.

I tried to get out of her grasp and threw a punch towards her, which of course she caught with her free hand. With one fluid motion, she tripped me from under my feet and pinned me to the ground. I tried to break free but she had me pinned well.

"Good job, girls." I heard Bruce say.

Natasha helped me up to my feet. "Like I said, you are amazing at dodging. Come back tomorrow and I can show you some hand-to-hand combat moves." She smiled.

"Uh…alright…" I said still confused. _How long did that take? Like ten seconds? Well, this is embarrassing, but at least she didn't kill me…_

"Alrighty, Tasha." I heard Clint say as he entered the room. "My turn."

-0-

The next couple of days were...better. Natasha was showing me some moves and I was starting to get used to sparring with the other Avengers, minus Tony and Bruce. Which was weird because I thought Natasha hated me guts. Although, I did lose every time but I was still getting better.

That night at dinner, everyone was chatting away. I even managed to have a conversation with Clint and Natasha without us yelling at each other.

After ten minutes, Tony and Bruce walked in with worried looks on their faces.

"Hey guys," Natasha spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Bad news. Very bad news." Tony said.

"Fury wants us to add a lot more security to Stark Tower." Bruce said.

"Why does he want more security?" Steve asked.

"And why is this bad news?" Clint also asked.

Tony and Bruce looked at each other than at us, but they were mostly looking in my direction. "He wants the security raised because..." Bruce began explaining.

"He wants Loki to be able to walk around the building instead of keeping him in a cell." Tony finished, clearly annoyed with Fury's request.

The room went silent and my eyes widened. _Great, I couldn't even control my anger with him in his prison. What would happen if I ran into him in the hallway? And why would they even let him out?! What's going on here? _"Why?" I finally asked. "That doesn't make any sense!" No one made eye contact; they just all looked down, but I saw that Thor was beaming. _They must be crazy! That doesn't make any sense! Why would they even let him out?_


	9. Loki Encounters

I stood on the roof, looking out into New York. I watched the sunrise, my mind lost in thought. Loki was let out today; he was on "house arrest." At least that is what Fury told us. _Is Fury on some new medication or something? Why would he just let Loki out? He tried to kill me, twice, hurt a lot of people in that building he almost blew up, not to mention what he did last year here. I just hope that the security system Tony made will keep him in so he can't hurt anyone else. _

I thought back to when I decided to come here at the beginning of the summer and looked out along the horizon. _I just don't understand why Fury won't let me leave._ I looked over the edge of the building. _But no one can stop me leaving right now. _I kept staring out into New York. _I want to leave, but somehow, I feel like I can't at the same time. _I thought about what I would have been doing if I just stayed home in Texas as the sun peeked its' way over. After the sun had risen over the horizon, I walked back into Stark Tower and headed to breakfast.

"Cereal is the most well-known breakfast." I heard Steve say.

"But eggs and bacon are healthier for you to eat in the morning." I heard Tony argue back when I walked in. "Hey, Rocky…"

"I didn't do it!" I said jokingly putting my hands up.

Tony chuckled. "No, I meant to ask which one is better."

I looked over at Tony's plate, and then at Steve's bowl. "I would say….this orange." I said while I picked up an orange and started peeling it as I went to sit down. Tony opened his mouth to protest but Thor came in with Loki trailing behind him. The room went silent.

"Oh please, do not stop on my account." Loki said looking at me with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes and continued to peel my orange. "No? Very well then." Loki said as he sat down on the armchair.

The room was silent for a little while longer. Steve caught up and put his empty bowl in the sink. "I'll be training if anyone needs me." Steve said.

"I think I'll come with you." Natasha said standing up.

"Count me in." Clint piped. "You wanna come, Maddie?" He asked.

"Sure, I guess." I said. I was positive I didn't want to stay in the same room with Loki.

"Banner and I will be in the lab." Tony said as he was cleaning up. And with that, we all parted ways.

-0-

I sat on a ledge and watched Natasha and Steve train. I started to drift off when I noticed Clint came up and sat next to me.

"Why don't you come down and exercise with the rest of us?" Clint innocently asked.

"Not really in a training mood: got a lot on my mind." I answered.

"Loki getting to you," Clint said more as a statement rather than a question.

"Here's what I don't get," I began. "Why do I have to stay? I mean I'm not saying I hate all of you or anything, but you guys are like the ultimate team, you guys can handle people like Loki. Why do I have to stay here?

"Fury's orders, not ours. Sorry, can't really help you there." Clint said. "You know, you could probably sneak out of here if you really wanted. Why haven't you?"

"I've thought of that too. But the truth is, I don't really have anywhere else to go." I said not really wanting to explain everything. Clint must have picked up on the hint because he didn't ask me to elaborate.

We sat in silence for a while then Clint broke the silence between us. "So let's just discuss about the elephant in the room. What is really bugging you about Loki?"

"Well for starters, he tried to kill me, like, twice. And second, I thought people like him got put in, oh I don't know, jail or something." I said with sarcasm in my tone.

Clint chuckled a little on my last sentence. "Yeah, they are and should be. But with Loki, it's a different…situation."

"How? How is it different?" I said getting more annoyed.

"It's hard to believe, but Loki is actually one of the good guys, to an extent."

"You're right. It is hard to believe." Although I knew it wasn't. I always tried to see the good in people. But when someone kept trying to kill you…let's just say it wasn't that easy.

"Loki is a complicated person. I did hate him at one point, and had a reason to. But then he changed and became, well good." Clint began.

Pieces and pieces came together and I understood the situation a little better. I almost felt….hopeful maybe? I then put some more pieces together and realization hit me. "I'm guessing this story has something to do with Kylie?" I asked looking at Clint, hoping I was wrong. He stared at his hands and didn't really answer, but that's all I really needed to know. "Figured." I said as I climbed off the ledge.

"Maddie," Clint began still in his same position, looking up. "I wasn't saying you were her."

"Yeah…" I said while walking out of the room. Luckily Natasha and Steve were too engrossed in what they were doing that they didn't notice I left.

I tried to find my way back to my room, or at least to where Tony and Bruce were. I liked hanging out with them better than any of the other Avengers. They didn't act like I was Kylie. They treated me like I was my own person.

I walked down the hall looking for the lab. _Well, it could be worse. I could be on the Hellicarrier. _ I thought. Stark's place was confusing, but it didn't compare to the Hellicarrier. I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be able to navigate around there if I went back.

I looked down the hallway as someone exited a room. It was Loki, and he was wearing normal clothes. _He looks so strange…I've only seen him in his armor. _He looked at me and I froze. "Looking for something?" He said with a smirk, but I didn't respond. He just shook his head at my silence. "They're in the door to your left."

I looked over to the door just in front of me. I was very skeptical; he was the God of Lies after all. I walked up to the door and heard Tony and Bruce talking. I looked back at Loki and he just smirked as he turned around and walked down the hallway.

After Loki turned the corner, I looked back at the door, debating whether I should go in or not. I knew if I didn't, I would late regret it. I opened the door and walked in. Bruce was on the computer and Stark was looking at a digital projection of his suit is what I am guessing it was. "Hey Rocky!" Tony said as I walked in. "What are you doing here?"

"Just roaming around I guess." I said as I came in and sat down on a chair across from Tony and Bruce.

"Did training get boring?" Bruce asked as he looked up.

"Kinda…" I said thinking about the conversation I had with Clint. "What's the deal with Natasha?" I finally asked.

"What are-what are you talking about?" Tony asked confused.

"We couldn't stand each other, now she acts like we're best friends." I clarified.

"That's just Natasha's way of trying to get to know you. Yeah, she didn't like you at first, but she really didn't like all of us at first." Bruce said.

I raised my eyebrows; I didn't really buy what he was saying. "Alrighty." I said. I looked over at Tony and something caught my eye. His suit, it was in a hologram looking form. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. "Whoa," I said and Tony looked over. "How are you doing that? That's so cool!" I exclaimed referring to his hologram suit and Tony smirked.

"Wanna see something cooler?" Tony asked. I nodded me head with a smile. He reached into the hologram and brought out something that looked like his chest piece. He opened it up and spread his arms out wide and I saw atoms spread across the room. I just stood there in amazement the whole time, but once I saw different atoms and molecules scattered across the room, my amazement grew. Tony laughed. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"No," I said walking around with a big smile on my face. "I mean, I've seen stuff like this before, but not like this." I said.

Bruce and Tony laughed at how entertained I was. "There's something even cooler." Bruce said and I looked at him. "Try grabbing one." He said nodding towards the molecules. I reached out and grabbed one of them. I was shocked. There, in my hand, was the molecule. But it felt like I wasn't holding anything, yet, it did. I gasped in amazement and Bruce and Tony laughed again. I stayed in the lab for a couple of hours while Bruce and Tony would show me random things while they worked.

-0-

I felt myself heat up a little more than I was this morning. I wasn't mad or anything, but even if try to be myself, I seem to heat up. It's not too bad; it's just a little too noticeable if you know what I am trying to say. Hanging out with Bruce and Tony was a lot of fun, and I got really excited, but that meant that I would heat up a little. I decided I should probably go hang out on the roof for a while to try and cool down.

I turned down the hallway that leads to the stairs and my room. I looked up and noticed Loki wandering down the end of the hallway so I decided to stay in my room for the time being. Before I reached the doorknob, Loki turned around and we made eye contact where he just smirked like he always does. I just rolled my eyes and entered my room.

-0-

I had tried everything: reading, playing games on the laptop in my room, and even listening to music. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to calm myself down. _Stupid Loki! Stupid Fury! What was he thinking letting Loki out? Did he not know he stressed me out already? UGGGHHHH!_

I looked at the glass of water on the table and decided to play around with it. I started making different shapes out of the water and tried different ways of swirling the water around itself. I focused on keeping myself under control. It was working for a little bit, and then I thought about something I shouldn't have. I lost control and the heat I released shattered the glass.

I ran to the bathroom and looked at my reflection. My eyes were turning purple. "Great." I mumbled to myself. I realized my best option was to go where I planned to go in the first place. I headed upstairs and found myself on the roof. I looked for a spot to lie down and stared up at the clouds passing by.

-0-

Time had passed and I felt myself finally calming down. I got up and walked towards the edge of the building and leaned on the ledge. I started thinking about what Clint had said. _You know, you could probably sneak out here if you wanted. Why haven't you? _I thought about what would happen if I did leave.

"Well I'm surprised to see you up here." Said a familiar voice I knew all too well. I felt myself slowly heating up. "It seems I really do make your blood boil." Loki said with a small chuckle. I turned around and saw him leaning against the door frame. I walked over to the other side of the roof, creating more space between us. Loki snickered. "Still ignoring me, I presume?"

I looked over the edge to the rooftop of the next building. I thought again about what Clint said. I was about to climb over the edge when Loki appeared next to me with his hand in front of me, blocking my way. "Now, now. Let's not have any of that." Loki said when I turned to look at him. I clenched my teeth together and headed for the door but Loki was still there. I turned and saw him again from where I just was, and two more to my left and right. My mind was too fogged up to tell which one was the real Loki.

"If you don't want to talk, maybe you would like to play a game?" the Loki to my right spoke up.

"I do love games, after all." The Loki to my left said.

"Let's see if you can do better than Thor." The Loki in front of me said with a smirk.

They all started to walk towards me. I got a mix of angry and annoyed emotions. But another emotion slipped through: panic. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt a powerful wave of fire discharge out of me. I heard a groan followed by someone slamming into the ground behind me. I turned around and saw Loki on the ground, singed. My mind screamed and I felt tears starting to well out. I ran over to Loki. I couldn't think about anything but _Please no! This can't happen! Please don't be dead, please don't be dead. _Sure Loki annoyed me, stressed me out, and tried to kill me more than once, but I didn't want him dead because I couldn't control my powers.

I kneeled down next to him, thinking about what horrible thing I had done. I reached out to feel how hot he was and he disappeared. I heard laughing coming from behind me and the tears that almost fell turned quickly into anger. I stood up, turned around, and yelled. "You think that was funny?!"

Loki's smile got bigger. "So, she speaks." He was leaning against the doorframe again.

"Why would you do that?!" I screamed, ignoring his comment.

"To be honest, I didn't expect that reaction." He said as he slowly paced around.

"Well what did you expect?" I said not yelling quite as loud.

"That maybe for a split second you would feel grateful." Loki said a little more serious.

"Why would I feel grateful? I'm not you! I could never feel grateful about killing someone!"

Loki stopped pacing and looked at me. "You think I'm just grateful? I'm proud! Proud that with every kill, I'm one step closer to ridding this place of you filthy mortals."

Although the comment hurt, I did not show it on my face. "Yeah, I know. We all know, thanks to the stunt you pulled last year." I said holding my ground. We stared at each other in silence for a few moments and I finally turned around and held onto the ledge trying to calm myself and looked out over New York.

I felt Loki behind me before he spoke. "You don't have the pride like I do, but tell me, how do your actions differ from mine?"

"Mine are unintentional." I sighed.

"Unintentional? Really?" He laughed. "And what about moments ago, was that unintentional?"

I turned around to face him. "Yeah, actually it was." I said not breaking eye contact.

We glared at each other for a few seconds before he smirked and started backing away. "Very well, then." And with that, he turned and exited through the door.

I turned around and stared out into New York again, this time I was alone. Thanks to Loki, I would have to stay up here a little bit longer.


End file.
